Community mourns loss of Paras Pizza’s ‘heart and soul’ George Mitropolous was a friendly and familiar face in town for more than 40 years

Thursday

Oct 25, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Ellen W. ToddSanford News Writer

SANFORD — A “Closed” sign hung in the window of Paras Pizza last week. Near the sign, someone had left an artificial pale yellow rose, its stem wedged between the door and the frame.

There was no notice to indicate why the popular pizzeria was closed, but word spread quickly — owner George Mitropoulos died Sunday, Oct. 14.

On another day last week, a family left a large chrysanthemum in full bloom in front of the small High Street shop, and on another day someone placed small candles on the sidewalk in front of the building.

George Mitropoulos was the “heart and soul of Paras Pizza,” said his obituary. He owned and operated the business in Sanford for 44 years.

“He was definitely a fixture in this community,” said Sanford resident Joe Duty, who called the Sanford News to talk about Mitropolous.

Duty, who grew up in Sanford, recalled that when he was a police officer years ago, and working the night shift, Mitropoulos would sometimes call the station before he closed and request that a cruiser come by. When the officer arrived, Mitropoulos would say he had a couple of pizzas left over and wanted to give them to “the gang,” Duty recalled.

Duty said he and his fellow officers knew Mitropoulos didn’t have any pizza left over, that he was being generous and had made the pies just for them.

“He was a wonderful man,” said David Searles, who was walking on High Street last week and stopped to talk to a reporter in front of the shop. Searles said he lived on Mousam Street as a child, about a block from the 8 School Street shop that was home to Paras Pizza for 37 years.

“When I was a little kid, he would let me go behind the counter and take pickles,” Searles recalled. “He would always greet you with a smile.”

“He knew my whole family,” Searles said, adding that Mitropoulos often gave his nephews a free soda or a cup of olives when they stopped in.

Mitropoulos grew up in Greece, the youngest of seven sons, according to a 1997 Sanford News article by Ann Fisher. He married his wife Stella in 1957 in Kalamata, Greece, and they moved to the United States. They settled in Dover, N.H., where he became a barber. While living in Dover, Mitropoulos told Fisher, he learned the art of making pizza from a friend and fellow Greek, Ernest Paras, of York Beach, whom he referred to as “the pizza man.”

In 1968, Mitropoulos bought Paras Pizza on School Street in Sanford. He made his crust from scratch, grew his own tomatoes and made his own sauce using Paras’ recipe.

When the School Street building was gutted by a fire in March of 2005, Mitropoulos’ son Peter and his wife, Michelle, bought the building at 45 High Street and Paras Pizza reopened in July.

George continued to make pizza and passed his knowledge and recipes on to his son and daughter-in-law, who began to take on more responsibility in recent years.

Up until two weeks before he died, he continued to work at the shop, greeting and talking to customers when he could no longer make pizza.

“That’s what used to get him up and out of bed in the morning,” Michelle said this week.

Spending time with his customers was one of the things he enjoyed most about the business.

“It wasn’t always about making money,” said Sanford businessman Fred Smith during a visit to the Sanford News office this week. “There are very few people of that calibre around these days,” Smith said of Mitropoulos.

Smith said Mitropoulos always stepped forward and didn’t hesitate to help when help was needed by a local non-profit.

The certificates and thank-you notes on the walls of the pizzeria are a testament to his generosity, and the entries in the online guest book connected to Mitropoulos’ obituary on Tasker Funeral Home’s website are a testament to the many lives he touched.

On Wednesday, Oct. 24, there were 95 such entries. Most were written by people from Sanford and surrounding towns, and from southern New Hampshire. But there were also entries from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and California.

“George and his wonderful pizza were a part of our 40 years in Maine. For all the time our children were young, George’s pizza was a Sunday night ritual. He was a dear man and will be sadly missed. Our condolences to his family and staff,” wrote Kathy and Lew Fink, of Sanford.

Jim Meunier, also of Sanford, wrote: “As I purchased the last pizza of the night Sunday, little did I know that it was truly the end of an era and that a great friend and treasure to the community was gone.”

And this message was left by Carl Baron, of Grapevine, Texas: “George will truly be missed. Though I moved away ten years ago, I always looked forward to being greeted by George, ‘Carl, you are home,’ when I entered the front door to pick up my order. My first date with my wife in 1969 was at Paras Pizza, and George made it special. George was a kind soul and a true gentleman. The town of Sanford has lost a landmark, and I, as well as many others, will miss him.”